Frozen Heart
-by Talec

The sun barelly meant anything on that on that forgotten mountain. Forgotten, for many preffer to ignore the beasts which lurk in the snow and wait for their next prey. A place where even the Champions of the Royal Arena would hesitate to go.
However, that woman had sworn an oath to her king and her land. To protect the innocent, to uphold justice and to face evil on its own den. There she was, the burning flame of hope in the middle of the lifeless snow of Mount Everice.

One could have problems finding her, as her pale skin was white as the land. A closer look, however, would reveal a long and red hair which seemed to burn over her head as the wind played with it. But the true flame remained inside her eyes - determination and instinct lived there. Maybe her heart really burned, otherwise how could one stand strong without being frozen at the top of the world, having clothes just a light armor and a cloack?

The huntress had been watching a cavern for several hours already. After four days of chasing and tracking, she finnaly knew her enemy lair. Still, its face remained a mistery. The only hints were huge footsteps and an equally huge shadows lurking behind the snowstorms.

"Anything that goes in, goes out. That thing must leave its hideout sometime". Spear on hands and the best arrows on the kingdom, it couldn't fail. She just needed to use it well.
All of a sudden, the silence was broken by an echoing roar. Soon, a enormous shadow moved out of the cavern and headed away from the cave.

"Go, Danna, go!" she told herself. The calm watcher gave place to a ferious predator in human form. She jumped down from her hiding spot and prepared to climb a long way up to the creature's house. Her body floated in the air for a few seconds. She touched land again and continued jumping from one side to another. When she could go no further, Danna aimed towards the white walls of the mountain and thrusted it with her lance. The sharp bladed drove in the stones almost completely before stoping. Several meters above ground, reason made it back to her mind for more than one second.

She wasn't too far from the top now. Sparing no pain, she held on a rock and thrusted the weapon higher in the mount. She kept climbing it for a long time, until she could reasonably stand at the edge of that side of Everice.

The lady had no idea of how much time it took her to do that, nor when the beast would come back. Every piece of her being longed for rest, but her will pushed her in the cavernous lair. As if it was possible, things got even darker. Illumination meant nothing inside the moist, suffocating ambient. Directionless, she was overwhelmed not only by fatigue, but also an obvious aura of evil. In the depths of her soul, she understood something was completely wrong there.
The smell of corruption revealed her foe. Led by intuition, she dodged right in time to avoid certain death smashed by a boulder thrown at her. Again, the same roar then before. She turned back just to see, by the exit of the hideout, the exact one she was looking for. The creature was fifteen feet tall. Its body was completely covered by white, and patches of grey - where no red showed from a victim's blood. It had large, dark feet and hands, enough to smash a strong man with it's touch. The head beared an horrible simian-like face, of sharp teeth and angry eyes. The unique stench and the decaying flesh helped to come to a conclusion: the monster was already dead and was brought back again. A fearsome undead yeti.

"And I tought I had annihilated you..." the battle-maiden tought. Rage made itself present on both of them, when they charged against each other. As the peak of the spear touched the left side of the yeti's chest, a deep cold ran through Danna's skin, fell in her blood and took her bones. Strenght failed for a second on her arm - enough for being thrown against the wall weaponless. She had tasted just a small fraction of a frozenheart's essence and almost fainted.
Both instinct and strategy filled her head. She took her bow and started aiming in the shadows. The beast laughed, enjoying her shock, while preparing for another charge. She would need the right arrow on the right spot to bring down such incredibily tough being. "Banor, do not fail me!" she whispered as the arrow flew through darkness. It hit just where it should: on the roof. The burst arrow brought down everything with it. Before the beast could react, it was crushed by the mountain's weight. All over Everice, the explosion could be heard. The huntress waited a few minutes before litting a torch.

It was true: the zombie couldn't survive such force. The exit had also been sealed with the explosion. At the other hand, the cavern revealed to be far bigger than she tought, and also had corridors to the deeper levels. Danna examined the exposed chest of the yeti. A crystal, as big as her hand, survived the arrow. She gazed it, curious. Touching it again, with her own hands, revealed a wintry sensation of fear and power. A cold energy ran through her veins. Scared, she put it back on her backpack. There were no options now: the corridors would lead to the source of that monsters. It had to be verified, that was her duty. And... there could be more power there as well...